Richard Crowley Explained

Office:Chairman of the United States House Committee on Claims
Term Start:1881
Term End:1883
District2:31st
State2:New York
Term Start2:March 4, 1879
Term End2:March 3, 1883
Preceded2:Charles B. Benedict
Succeeded2:Robert S. Stevens
Office3:United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York
Term Start3:March 23, 1871
Term End3:March 3, 1879
Office4:New York State Senate (29th Dist.)
Term Start4:1866
Term End4:1869
Party:Republican
Birth Date:14 December 1836
Birth Place:Pendleton, New York
Death Place:Olcott, New York

Richard Crowley (December 14, 1836 – July 22, 1908) was a United States representative from New York. He was born in Pendleton, New York. He attended the public schools and Lockport Union School. Later, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1860, and commenced practice in Lockport.

Crowley was City Attorney of Lockport from 1865 to 1866. He was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States in 1865, and was a member of the New York State Senate (29th D.) in 1866, 1867, 1868 and 1869. He was appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York on March 23, 1871 and was reappointed March 3, 1875, and served in that capacity until March 3, 1879.

Crowley was elected as a Republican to the 46th and 47th United States Congresses, holding office from March 4, 1879, to March 3, 1883. While in Congress, he was Chairman of the Committee on Claims (47th Congress). After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of law in Lockport. He was appointed by Governor Levi P. Morton in 1896 as counsel for the State of New York in American Civil War claims cases, in which capacity he was serving at the time of his death at Olcott Beach, New York in 1908. He was buried in Lockport's Glenwood Cemetery.

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